Page 71 of Tiger's Dream
We headed back to our mountain home, walking side by side, a companionable silence between us. When we arrived at the base, she stopped short at seeing the vast numbers of people camping there. It was like a small city had sprung up. Straining my ears, I caught the musical lilt of at least a half dozen languages, and yet the atmosphere was one of cheer and mutual respect.
“We must send down supplies,” she said fretfully as she counted the campfires that dotted the land.
“I’ll see to it,” I said wearily. “Shall we head around back?” I asked, thinking of the hidden passage.
“No.” Turning to me, she wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her body close to mine.
I reacted instinctively though I was confused and slid my hands around her small waist. My eyes were drawn to the soft petals of her lips and the thick, dark lashes that swept over her cheeks as she closed her eyes. Around us the air changed. A bright, golden light encompassed our bodies, bubbling softly like sunset-tinged sea foam. Her hair brushed my arm as it whipped in the wind that lifted us up into the night sky.
As we floated above the camp, her power wrapped around us, I pressed my cheek against hers and we held on to one another. I wasn’t sure if our fight had completely fixed the divide that lay between us, but the distance to bridge it was certainly smaller than it had been. We touched down and I took her hand, leading her to her room. When I left her there, the door closing on the small smile I gave her, I sought out our young apprentice, Xing-Xing, and handed him the Golden Fruit.
His eyes bugged when I told him of its power. After a few demonstrations of how to use it, I left him in the supply room with the task of creating enough food to feed two thousand warriors. He set about the work with great enthusiasm, and I couldn’t help but laugh when the scent of sugar and honey infused the air.
Before I found my bed, I bathed quickly, not even bothering to dry off. I shook my wet hair wildly, like a tiger would, and then climbed between the sheets. It was a good twelve hours before I moved, and when I did, I immediately knew something was wrong. My head hurt and slick, black rainbows swam before my eyes. Someone had been in my room and had dealt me what would amount to a killing blow over the head if I had been a typical mortal man.
Brown, crusted blood flaked from my sheets as I sat up and gingerly felt the raised knot on the back of my head. Standing and nearly falling, I grasped desperately for the bedpost as I tried to steady my quavering legs. Stumbling forward, I hurried toward Ana’s room and wrenched open the door only to find her room ransacked and the bed empty. The scent of several men stung my nostrils.How had they gotten in?
I called out for Xing-Xing and for Ana’s man, Bhavin. Neither of them answered. Panicked, I searched Ana’s room. Had she taken off the amulet? The only way she could have been captured was if she’d been hit over the head like me, that is, unless she’d taken off the amulet. She did that sometimes when she bathed, though I’d warned her time and again to always leave it on.
Rummaging through what remained of her jewelry box, I found nothing of value. Gone were her weapons as were several priceless gifts she’d been given over the years. To my great relief, I spotted a golden tail tucked behind the curtain.
“Fanindra,” I said. “Can you help me find her?”
The golden cobra blinked her eyes and stretched her coils, growing larger until she was full-sized. She slid across Anamika’s bed, her tongue flicking out to taste the air, and then circled the post, moving quickly down until she reached the floor. I followed her to Ana’s bath, and Fanindra stuck her head beneath a towel on the lip of the stone edge.
When I picked it up, sure enough, the amulet fell to the ground with a thump. Thanking Fanindra, I placed the amulet around my neck and lowered my arm. Fanindra wound around it and hardened into gold as I raced out of the rooms, following the scent of the men. Their scents headed toward my hidden stairs, and I cursed myself for having left so abruptly the day before and leaving the secret door open. Instead of taking the time to run down the stairs, I leapt into the dark space in the middle and fell, using the power of wind to slow my drop so I landed in a soft crouch at the bottom.
When I closed the hidden door behind me this time, I used the amulet to seal it shut permanently and took off at a run, following the men who’d taken Ana. Fanindra’s emerald eyes lit the landscape for me though I could see well enough at night as a tiger. Even so, I noticed how living creatures were outlined vividly when she turned her gaze on them. “Help me find them,” I whispered to her. “Help me find Ana.”
Without the amulet, they could overpower Ana, keep her unconscious. They wouldn’t be able to draw the bow or wield thegadathough they could certainly take them. If they had enough men, they could divide the weight of the weapons easily enough, and my nose told me they had plenty.
In fact, the numbers grew. More and more scents joined the party as I ran. My blood ran cold as I thought about what they could do to her. Ana was a warrior but without her powers, she couldn’t handle so many. To keep my mind off the danger she was in, I ticked off a list of possible assailants, trying to figure out who might have done this. Truthfully, we’d made a lot of enemies, even if I only considered the current time.
The temptation of seizing the powers of the goddess was a strong motivation. As many safeguards as we’d put into place, it was now obvious that there weren’t enough. I’d been too complacent in my duties. Too relaxed. I should have woken up before a man even entered my room, let alone given him time to bash me over the head.
Granted, both of us were exhausted from our efforts of late but that was no excuse. Ren would yank my tail off for such negligence. I ran until dark fell again and then I entered the forest. With my night vision and my sense of smell and heightened hearing, I sped on while the men slowed.
Finally, I came upon their campfire. A spit of some kind of meat snapped and popped over the flames and my mouth watered. I hadn’t eaten in some time. Setting Fanindra on the ground, I asked, “Can you find Ana?” The snake lifted her head, her hood extending, and she turned toward the right, bobbing in the air, then she turned to the left. Slowly, her hood closed and she lowered the top half of her body and slid off into the grass.
I followed her as best I could as she made her way around the outskirts of the camp, but she came too close to a guard, who shouted and scampered back. I ducked so I wouldn’t be seen as he raised his scimitar and struck the ground. My mouth opened but I said nothing as the wary man leapt away and another joined him.
“What is it?” the man asked.
“Snake. Never seen one like it. Albino I think. Not sure I got it. Can’t find it now.”
I was preparing to move again and hoping Fanindra was unharmed when something brushed against my foot. It was Fanindra with her tail missing. I ran a finger down her body. As I did, she wriggled and squirmed, her mouth open, and before my eyes, a new tail grew to replace the old one.
She turned her head as if to inspect her new lower half before moving on through the trees again, giving the guards a wide berth. We circled all the way around the camp until Fanindra stopped and peered straight ahead. Touching my hand to a fern, I moved it aside and saw Ana was tied to a tree.
Scooping up Fanindra, I waited until the guard near her nodded off and crept closer. A large bruise colored her jaw and her head was slumped down to her chest. Her arms were tied to the tree behind her and her legs were bound as well. She wore only her nightdress, which was drawn up to mid-thigh, and the neckline was torn, exposing the upper curve of her breast. I couldn’t tell if it had happened when she struggled or if she’d already been subjected to abuse.
Purple bruises, several of them the exact size of fingerprints, marked her long legs and arms, and I ground my jaw in fury. I would kill them for touching her. The men at the fire droned on in their nasal dialect as they expounded upon their cleverness and rehashed their triumphant raid. One insinuated about what he planned to do with Ana, while another bragged openly. They argued over who had the right to her first and congratulated the man with the magic to keep tigers at bay.
I froze and listened carefully. Now it all made sense. They’d gone and found themselves an ancestor of the Baiga. They had aguniain their midst. It was a relief to know I wasn’t just faltering in my post. There was magic involved. One that had incapacitated Ren as well. As they continued to threaten the goddess, it was all I could do not to kill them immediately.
Not that I didn’t plan to kill them. I would. I just wanted her to be safe first. Leaning over her, I adjusted her dress and patted her cheek. “Ana?” I whispered. “Ana, love, you need to wake up.”
She groaned and whimpered. Her head lolled drunkenly.
